Battery retaining and tensioning means for hand lanterns



April'2l, 1942.

w. M. MOXLEY 2,280,343

' BATTERY RETAINING AND TENSIONING MEANS FOR HAND LANTERNS Filed March 17, 1941 vertical positions.

Patented Apr. 21.219142 7 BATTERYRETAINING ANDKTENSIONING I I. p MEANSFOR HAND LANTERNS 7 I William Moxley,- Kansas City, Mo.

Application March 17,1941, Serial No, 383,857

2 Claims. I (01. zit-10.63)

signaling and when so used they must be swung to positions far out of their normal upright or The primary object of the invention is to provicle a lantern of this type with means for holding its battery always infirm contact with the contacts of its light bulbs no matter how the 1 lantern body may beswung.

The means usually employed in known constructions is to provide some sort of pressure creating element, SllChwaS a spring, bearing between the top of the battery cell and the lamp body or casing. However, this method has proven to be open to serious objection, because in order to prevent the cover from being dislodged under the action of the spring, the cover must be made to fit so tightly that it becomes a troublesome task to remove and replace it when a new battery is to be substituted for an exhausted one. Further,

if the edge of a tightly fitting cover has become dented during use, itis almost impossible to resuchtight fitting covers as will cause theuser trouble, because the holder will hold the battery in place even with the cover removed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure l is a view partly in front elevation and partly in vertical section, illustrating a hand lantern of a known form having one form of pressure creating means applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan View of the pressure creating means and; i

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of ,a

modifiedform of pressure creating means.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

5 designates the body or casing of an electrical hand lantern, 6 the. cover, I the supporting legs,

8 the bail, 9 the electric bulbs; and III the usual battery cell employed for supplying energy to the bulbs, all of these parts being old in the patents named above, as well as in many other patents.

i In carrying out the present invention, I provide any suitable pressure creating means acting between the body 5 and the battery cell H] in such fashion as to tend to thrust the battery toward the light bulbs. comprise straps II and I2 that are secured at their lower ends to the body 5 by rivets I3. Any suitable drawing means for drawing the upper endsof these straps toward each other may be employed, such for example, as a suitable buckle.

However, I prefer to employ the well known type of fastener commonly used upon galoshes and the like and comprising a plate 15 to which the end of the strap I2 is pivoted at I4. This plate is provided with a series of slots it, any one of which is adapted to receive a curved, hook-like member I! that is pivotally mounted at l8 upon a plate I9, the latter plate being secured to the end of the strap II. Fastenings of this sort are adapted to exert a desired drawing action as the hook is swung over to the left after being engaged in a desired one of the slots l6 and to remain in such drawing position when its free end is pressed as far as possible toward plate IS.

The straps H and 12 may be made of any de-' sired material; fabric, leather or otherwise and they may be either elastic or inelastic. In Fig. 3 I have indicated an elastic band 12* secured to the body 5 by one of the rivets [3, it being apparent that a band of this sort engaged at its ends by the-rivets 13, with the body 5, would serve to yieldingly thrust the battery cell toward the bulbs.

I am well aware that it is common practice to pass a pair of straps around objects to be held in place and to provide the ends of the straps with drawing elements such as buckles. However, as far as I know, I am the first to exert an end thrust upon a battery cell by means of strands or straps connected to the lamp casing. Consequently, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes within its purview whateverv changes fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, What I claim is:

1. In an electric hand lantern of the type comprising a hollow lamp body, a cover upon the top of the lamp body, a lamp bulb carried at the bottom of the lamp body, and a bail like handle secured to the lamp body and extending over the In Figs. 1 and 2 these means top thereof and by which said body may be swung, a constrictable strand-like element having its ends secured to the inner sides of the body at a point materially below the top of the battery cell, said strand extending in a loop over the top of the battery cell and acting by its constricting action to continually thrust the battery cell toward the bulb at the bottom of the body to thereby maintain contact between battery cell and bulb wholly under the influence of a thrust In exerted between the battery cell and the inner sides of the lamp body and wholly independently of the cover.

2. In combination with an electric hand lantern comprising a lamp body, a cover therefor, a lamp bulb adjacent the bottom thereof, a battery cell in the body, a bail secured to the lamp body by which said body may be swung, a pair of straps having their lower ends secured to the inner sides of the lamp body at a point intermediate the height of said lamp body, said straps extending thence upwardly and toward each other over the top of the battery cell, and interengaging drawing means upon the ends of said straps by which the battery cell may be held in place and thrust toward the lamp bulb independently of the cover.

WILLIAM M. MOXLEY. 

